US embassy cable - 04DUBLIN1700

UNCLAS DUBLIN 001700 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL, PARM, ETTC, EUN 
SUBJECT: CHINESE VICE-PREMIER'S VISIT SPARKS MINOR 
CONTROVERSIES 
 
Ref:  STATE 247288 
 
1.  (U) Chinese Vice-Premier Huang Ju's November 16-18 visit 
to Dublin was a minor source of controversy in Ireland, with 
media complaints about a press blackout as well as calls by 
Falun Gong practitioners for Huang's arrest.  During his 
stay, Huang met with President McAleese, Prime Minister 
Ahern, Deputy Prime Minister Harney, and several cabinet 
ministers.  The Irish Government received media criticism, 
however, for the fact that Huang's schedule did not include 
a press conference.  The National Union of Journalists said 
in a press release that the absence of opportunities for 
media questioning amounted to censorship.  Labor Party 
spokesperson for Foreign Affairs, Michael Higgins, also 
criticized the Government as being complicit in censorship. 
In response, Foreign Affairs Minister Dermot Ahern told 
local press that the GOI had raised the possibility of press 
conferences before Huang's visit, but that the Chinese had 
rejected the suggestion. 
 
2.  (U) Lawyers for five Falun Gong practitioners called for 
the arrest of Vice-Premier Huang.  One of the practitioners, 
Ming Zhao, holds refugee status in Ireland on the basis of 
alleged torture in China.  The lawyers filed an application 
to have the Garda (National Police) arrest Vice-Premier 
Huang on charges of complicity in torture under the 2000 
Criminal Justice Act, which incorporated the UN Convention 
on the Prevention of Torture into Irish law.  The 
application failed in the District Court, however, after 
Judge Cormac Dunne said that the case lacked evidence. 
Judge Dunne also said that he could not proceed without 
clarification of Vice-Premier Huang's possible diplomatic 
immunity. 
 
3.  (SBU) On November 17, Department of Foreign Affairs 
(DFA) EU correspondent, Gerald Keown, told emboff that 
Huang's visit was a follow-up to Premier Wen Jiabao's visit 
to Dublin last May and also to Prime Minister Ahern's 
discussions with Premier Wen at the October Asia-Europe 
Meeting (ASEM) in Hanoi.  Huang's visit has set the stage 
for Prime Minister Ahern's planned January 2005 visit to 
Beijing.  Keown noted that trade, investment, culture, 
tourism, and human rights were among the issues discussed by 
Huang and his Irish interlocutors.  According to Keown, 
Huang made clear China's interest in the lifting of the EU 
arms embargo, and the Irish side explained that China's 
human rights record would make such a move difficult to 
justify to the Irish public.  (In conversations with 
Embassy, the Irish DFA has not explicitly opposed the 
lifting of the embargo, but has alluded to China's human 
rights violations as a significant factor in its 
considerations.)  Deliverables for Huang's visit included an 
agreement signed by Education Minister Mary Hanifan for 
college and university exchanges between Ireland and China. 
 
KENNY